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Shortened season no less legitimate than full season

When the expected 48-game NHL season kicks off Jan. 19, the margin for error will be slimmer than we’re used to. Whereas a five-game losing skid could be just a blip on the radar for a playoff team in any other year, it could spell the end of its Stanley Cup hopes in a shortened season.

But the best teams and players will come through. By no means should this season be considered illegitimate or the Stanley Cup ceremony tainted.

History shows a shortened season is unlikely to produce a flash-in-the-pan champion. In 1995, the West’s eight playoff teams remained the same from the prior season, while in the East, Quebec (11th to first) and Philadelphia (10th to second), were the only two new teams. Far from being lucky and taking advantage of an abbreviated schedule, these two teams used 1995 as a launching pad: Quebec moved to Colorado and won the 1996 Stanley Cup with mostly the same key players, while Philadelphia entered a decade of relevancy after missing the post-season five years in a row. Meanwhile, the Islanders missed the playoffs for the first time in what turned out to be a seven-year drought.

The Detroit Red Wings, who had advanced past the first round of the playoffs only once in the previous six seasons, lost in the Stanley Cup final and ushered in an era of dominance and franchise stability that still lingers today. After 1995, they advanced to the conference final three times in a row, winning the Stanley Cup twice.

The New Jersey Devils played off Martin Brodeur’s Calder-winning 1993-94 season and conference final appearance and won their first Stanley Cup in franchise history. Though they surprised and missed the playoffs in 1996, they then began a run that included three straight division titles, three conference titles in four years and two Cups.

Even the individual performances and awards were earned without any glitch: Eric Lindros built off a 97-point 1993-94 season to win the Hart Trophy and recorded 115 points in 1995-96; Dominik Hasek, winner of the 1994 Vezina, held it for the 1995 season; and Paul Coffey, still going strong, won his third and final Norris Trophy and followed it up with a 74-point season.

While injuries could throw a wrench in any team’s plan, especially in a short year when conditioning could be in question, the same can be said for any other season. Teams still have to take on all comers in the post-season and navigate through – and history shows there’s little reason to believe the top teams and ultimate winner should be considered tainted.

Stamkos, Malkin, Giroux - Kings, Rangers, Canucks. Expect all of them to be back, with a vengeance.

Rory Boylen is TheHockeyNews.com's web editor. His column appears regularly only on THN.com.

For more great profiles, news and views from the world of hockey, subscribe to The Hockey News magazine.

Jets’ Scheifele set to return after missing three straight with hamstring issue

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Jets’ Scheifele set to return after missing three straight with hamstring issue

The Winnipeg Jets aren’t completely healthy yet, but a major piece is back in the lineup Thursday as Mark Scheifele returns from injury. Scheifele, the Jets leading scorer, has missed the past three games due to a hamstring issue.

The Winnipeg Jets have been on a roll of late and their chances of pushing themselves out of a wild card spot and into a divisional slot are going to get a big help Thursday night with the return of Mark Scheifele to the lineup.

Scheifele, 23, has missed the past three games with a lower-body injury, and Scheifele said Thursday that the issue had to do with his hamstring, according to the Winnipeg Sun’s Ken Wiebe. The worst part about the injury, Scheifele said, was that he kept thinking he was going to be able to suit up only to be forced out of the lineup.

“It was an up in the air thing, and every morning you’re anxious to see how you’re going to feel. It was definitely tough mentally,” Scheifele said. “Today when I woke up and got on the ice I felt fine, continued to skate and it got better and better. I’m definitely very happy.”

The Jets get Scheifele back just as they’re about to enter a home tilt against the New York Rangers. If Winnipeg can pick up two points, they’ll move from the second wild card spot in the Western Conference into third place in the Central Division, leapfrogging the inactive Wild. That said, the Wild will have five games in hand on the Jets.

While much of the talk this season has (rightfully) been about the play of rookie Patrik Laine, Scheifele is putting together the best season of his young career and continuing the hot run of play that he had to closed out the past campaign. Through the first 26 games of the campaign, Scheifele had posted 13 goals and 13 assists, paced the Jets with 26 points and his point per game pace is far and away the best of his career. If he continues scoring at this rate, he could end the year with a 40-goal, 80-point campaign.

The timing for the career year is perfect for Scheifele, too. Winnipeg can be a tough market, but since signing his sizeable eight-year, $49-million extension in the off-season, everything — sans the injury, of course — has been coming up Scheifele.

With his return to the lineup, one of the coach Paul Maurice’s recent experiments will come to an end as winger Blake Wheeler will move out of the middle and back to his normal spot on the top line. Maurice had been running the Jets captain as a center in Scheifele’s absence, but he’ll now be skating alongside Scheifele in his usual spot.

The healthy return of Scheifele also marks a sign of some players coming off the injured list for the Jets, too. There’s still a way to go before the team is completely healthy, though. Tyler Myers, Shawn Matthias, Joel Armia and Nic Petan all remain on the injured reserve.

Montreal can't panic over injuries to Galchenyuk and Desharnais

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Montreal can't panic over injuries to Galchenyuk and Desharnais

While the loss of the two centers is a crushing blow in the short-term, this team is positioned too well to lose assets in a hasty trade scenario

The Montreal Canadiens will be without top center Alex Galchenyuk and fellow pivot David Desharnais for at least six weeks, perhaps even eight. Both players sustained knee injuries in recent games and the news is obviously not good. But GM Marc Bergevin would make it even worse by jumping into a hasty trade.

True, the Habs now look skeletal down the middle (though Tomas Plekanec isn't a horrible choice for the top line and Andrew Shaw can help out), but this is a short-term problem. Montreal is the top team in the Eastern Conference right now and with netminder Carey Price, they can win more than a few games in the next month or so just on the strength of his gifted play. And the Shea Weber-led defense has been better than expected, so even if the Habs are super-boring and conservative until February, they'll get some results.

Will Montreal still be on top by then? Maybe not, but as long as they don't lose like, 20 games in a row, they'll still be in a playoff position with enough runway left to climb back up the rungs. And as the Los Angeles Kings have proven twice already, you can win the Stanley Cup as long as you get into the playoffs, particularly if your goalie is one of the best on the planet (caveat: being a great possession team helps and the Canadiens are only middling).

But a trade is not the way to go, particularly since the Canadiens aren't deep to begin with. They don't have many attractive pro prospects right now – unless they can drum up interest in a Charles Hudon or Nikita Scherbak – and their best recent draft pick is defenseman Mikhail Sergachev, who should be seen as untouchable. I mean, if Pittsburgh offers up Evgeni Malkin for the 2016 first-rounder and a couple other goodies, you make that trade – but I don't think that's going to happen.

If anything, Montreal needs to build their pipeline up, instead of taking assets away from it. The Canadiens ranked just 23rd in the NHL in our most recent Future Watch edition and Sergachev was the only pick they made in the first two rounds this summer. They do have two second-rounders for 2017 (their own and Washington's selection), but again: they need those.

Galchenyuk and Desharnais will be back and in all likelihood, the Canadiens will still be in a playoff position. The short-term may seem a little bleak, but the price of a quick patch isn't worth the long-term loss. Patience is a virtue here.

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ECHL defenseman Anthony Calabrese is “lucky to be alive” after a “careless, reckless” hit, and Tyler Murovich, who delivered the blow, has been given a 12-game suspension as a first-time offender.

There are few plays scarier than seeing a player hit from behind and sent headfirst into the boards. That kind of play is made that much harder to watch when knowing the severity of the injury suffered.

During an ECHL contest on Nov. 24 between the Norfolk Admirals and Atlanta Gladiators, ECHL veteran Tyler Murovich delivered an incredibly dangerous shove to the back of Anthony Calabrese, a 24-year-old defenseman who’s only 12 games into his ECHL career.

The result of the hit was frightening. Calabrese was left laying face down on the ice, near motionless. The Admirals rearguard would eventually be placed on a stretcher, taken from the ice and transported to hospital.

That may seem harsh to some given that Murovich is a first-time offender, but given the severity of Calabrese’s injury, it actually seems like a somewhat light punishment.

As a result of the hit, Calabrese suffered broken C7 and T1 vertebrae. In simpler terms, he broke both his neck and his back. Oh, and he also punctured his lung. In fact, Calabrese told The Virginian-Pilot’s Jim Hodges that doctors told the young center that he’s “lucky to be alive.”

“It was a miracle, and they say I’m going to make a full recovery,” Calabrese told Hodges. “It’s going to be a long road, but I’d rather be alive than be in a wheelchair the rest of my life.”

What helped Calabrese escape with his life, he told Hodges, was advice he had gotten early in his career from a high school coach. Calabrese was taught that if he was ever going into the boards head first to lift his chin and turn to the side in an attempt to avoid taking the brunt of the impact with the top of his head.

“That’s honestly the only thing that registered in my mind when I was going in: at the last minute, pick my head up,” Calabrese told Hodges. “I remember picking my head up and turning it to the right.”

Thankfully, doctors told Calabrese that he can eventually return to the ice and that the injuries suffered from the hit won’t cost him his career. His spinal cord, he told Hodges, wasn’t damaged due to the hit. And, as hard as it may be to believe, doctors said it was the “best possible break” in a situation such as Calabrese’s.

Prospect Need to Know: Brett Murray growing for Buffalo

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Prospect Need to Know: Brett Murray growing for Buffalo

The budding power forward is having a successful season with USHL Youngstown, with Penn State on the horizon. Learn about him and other future NHLers in our weekly wrap

The world junior camp rosters are really rolling out now and there have been some minor surprises. Sweden will not be taking a last look at 2017 draft prospects Timothy Liljegren and Erik Brannstrom on defense, while Russia is taking a pass on Columbus pick Vitalii Abramov, among others. And now we know that Nolan Patrick will not suit up for Canada, due to injury. But let's concentrate on the player around the prospect world that are having good weeks. As always, here's our wrap-up of who is making waves.

The Spotlight

Brett Murray, LW (Buffalo): We are just beginning to see what Murray is capable on the ice, but it's been a pretty good show already. The burgeoning power forward has the right frame at 6-foot-5 and 222 pounds and has put up 16 points in his first 22 USHL games with the Youngstown Phantoms. Now it's just a matter of speed for the Sabres' fourth-rounder.

“Being a bigger guy, my acceleration and quickness off the start is something I can work on," Murray said. "Always improving top speed in open-ice skating is a huge thing.”

With that foreboding frame, Murray can grow into a force once he puts it all together. The early results are encouraging and he already has championship experience from this past season, when he helped the CCHL's Carleton Place Canadians win their Jr. A title in Ontario's Ottawa region. In Youngstown, he's facing tougher competition and the stakes will rise again next year when he heads to Hockey Valley and the NCAA's Penn State Nittany Lions.

“It just seemed like the right fit," Murray said. "They have a new state-of-the-art facility and as a progression for me, just being in the gym every day with an elite strength and conditioning coach and nutritionist seemed like the best for me.”

So if everything goes according to plan, Buffalo will have a beast of a left winger once Murray is finished in the NCAA. He's already got the instincts to be a handful.

“I like to work the puck down low in the corners," he said. "Use my size and skill to create space for my linemates and myself.”

And with the World Jr. A Challenge coming up in Bonnyville, Alta., Murray is proof of what that tournament can do for a prospect that isn't necessarily on the mainstream radar. Murray played for Canada East last season and soaked in everything he could from international duty.

“I really enjoyed it," he said. "It was an excellent experience, matching myself up against top prospects from other countries and even my linemates.”

In The Pipeline

Sergei Zborovskiy, D (NY Rangers): Games don’t get much better than the seven-pointer Zborovskiy hung on poor Prince Albert in his Regina Pats’ 12-2 destruction. The big-bodied defenseman was all over the place, jumping into scoring positions and getting pucks to the net. He has also been invited to Russia’s final world junior camp.

Carter Hart, G (Philadelphia): It seems like I’m mentioning Hart a lot lately, but I can’t help it because he refuses to give up goals. Using structure and technique, the favorite heading into Canada’s WJC camp posted three straight shutouts before Medicine Hat finally dented the armor in his most recent game. Hart still got the win, though.

Guillaume Brisebois, D (Vancouver): Canada has a lot of options on the blueline, so it will be interesting to see if Brisebois can snag a spot. The Charlottetown Islanders rearguard has great size and skating ability, helping him to 17 points through 23 games. But he can also use his tools to shut players down and that might be his key to making the world juniors.

Henrik Borgstrom, C (Florida): He’s been great all year for NCAA Denver, but the announcement of Finland’s world junior roster gives us another reason to mention the speedy and talented freshman. Borgstrom has 16 points through 14 games with the Pioneers and Finland will need his offense with so many big names from last year’s squad unavailable.

Caleb Jones, D (Edmonton): Team USA named its preliminary world junior roster on Monday and it's looking like a solid crew. But who will step up on defense with so many options? Jones is one candidate, as his combination of physicality and skill make him dangerous. The Portland Winterhawks rearguard has an impressive 25 points in 28 WHL games this year.

2017 Draft Stars

Robert Thomas, C – London Knights (OHL): Thomas had one heckuva coming out party on the weekend, racking up five points for the Knights in a 6-2 win over Flint. Strong on his skates and blessed with some fantastic offensive moves, Thomas now has 30 points in 27 games on a deep team.

Owen Tippett, RW – Mississauga Steelheads (OHL): There is so much to like about Tippett’s game, from his size (6-foot-2, 204 pounds) to his skating to his shot. All of those were in full gear against Ottawa on the weekend, where Tippett popped in four points in a 6-3 victory.

Lias Andersson, C – HV 71 (SHL): One of three draft prospects to make Sweden’s final WJC camp roster, Andersson plays an excellent two-way game and already has chemistry with Carl Grundstrom and Elias Pettersson on the international stage. Back with HV 71, Andersson is one of the top-scoring junior-aged players in the SHL with eight points in 22 games.

Jayson Dobay, D – Thayer Academy Tigers (Mass. HS): An excellent skater with great offensive instincts, Dobay is a UMass commit and one to watch in the New England prep ranks this season. With six assists in his first three games for the Tigers, his campaign is off to a great start.

Jesse Bjugstad, D – Stillwater Ponies (Minn. HS): When you think of Minnesota high school defensemen, finesse and skating usually comes to mind. But Bjugstad can also play the game with an edge. The 6-foot-2, 185-pounder has great NHL pedigree (dad Scott, cousin Nick) and has kicked off the season with two goals in two games.